Utilization of 3D Printing Technique for Manufacturing A Planar Marchand Balun Fed UHF Wideband Vivaldi Antenna

In this paper, the utilization of a 3D printing technique for manufacturing a wideband Vivaldi antenna fed by a modified planar Marchand balun is presented. The proposed Vivaldi antenna is intended to operate at ultra-high frequency (UHF) range. The use of modified planar Marchand balun enables the conversion of balanced Vivaldi antenna into unbalanced feeding line, thereby catering to electronic systems that rely on unbalanced signals. To manufacture the proposed Vivaldi antenna, a polylactic acid (PLA) material is used as filaments for a 3D printing technique process, while the radiating element and the feeding line are coated by utilizing metal conductive paint. The results of experimental characterizations show that the manufactured Vivaldi antenna has the working frequency between 0.74 GHz to 1.17 GHz, offering a wideband frequency response of 430 MHz and achieving a maximum gain of 1 dBi on its working frequency range.